So many people want to “succeed” in using social media, but are clueless. Even those of us who are supposed to be experts often don’t really know what to do with social media.

Here’s five ways to succeed in using social media to get more customers and keep the ones you have:

1. Ignore Facebook and Twitter (for now) and Pinterest

If you don’t know what you are doing these sites will simply be a waste of time for you, decrease your productivity and not give you the results you are looking for.

Sarah Needleman in the Wall Street Journal writes, Experts recommend waiting to jump in until your start-up is fully functioning because effectively managing one or more social-networking profiles can take a great deal of time and energy. What’s more, they say rushing in without knowing what you’re doing can potentially result in embarrassment or worse. For example, a poorly executed reply to a Facebook message from an unhappy customer could go “viral”—meaning it could get reposted many times over on the Web—if the recipient were to share it with his or her Facebook friends.

2. Instead of jumping to social media, FIRST understand the art of content marketing.

Content marketing is very simple, we all want to learn, be entertained, be informed. You must provide this information in the context of your business, products/services and/or overall marketplace.

Build listening stations to capture and know what content is already out there – start with a simple Google Alerts about you, your competition and relevant industry information and also use RSS Feeds to pull online content to you from web sites and blogs you trust.

3. Build a great web site, blog and email newsletter

Now that you’ve got streams of content coming TO YOU. Build a great web site, blog and email newsletter and share this content on a regular basis with your customers and others. Your blog and email newsletter should be a WEALTH OF KNOWLEDGE for your readers – not about “YOU” but content that they want.

4. Now you can check out the world of social media

Now that you have taken the time to listen to what others are saying, have developed your own insight and are now sharing it with others you’re ready to share it even wider through social networks. See which one works for you – Facebook? Twitter? Google Plus?

Don’t go crazy – be smart.

I could talk about social media all day long and have only given you a few small points!

Great points. There’s nothing worse than a Facebook page or a Twitter account with nothing on it.

aaroneden

I love that you emphasized ‘ignoring’ social networking sites until you get everything figured out. We see many brands fail because they’re simply clueless, treating these sites like their digital billboard when it’s all about community building after all. I’ve read Ann Handley’s book and I’d recommend it to anyone who’s serious about content marketing.

http://Smallbiztechnology.com Ramon Ray

Yep, Ann’s and others books are really useful for sure

EatPrayLoveMovies

Great Read! You got to have a product before renting out space to sell it!

http://Smallbiztechnology.com Ramon Ray

but why do some try to market or sell BEFORE a great product

http://twitter.com/DecidedlySocial Alison Myers

Good article Ramon. I talk to my clients and prospects all day long about developing a social media strategy based on business objectives which will determine the social networks to use. Next we create a content plan for those networks before we make any posts or tweets.

http://Smallbiztechnology.com Ramon Ray

what do you do?

Exabyzness1

Another excellent article, Ramon. We selected it for our ‘Driving Revenue’ section feature @Exabyzness:disqus at Exabyzness.com. Exabyzness is a small business aggregation site that collects and reviews hundreds of small business sources daily, and then posts what we consider the ‘top’ content daily. We always look for your stories because you do such a fine job, and I think this story is valuable to the small biz owner drowning in the promise and confusion of social media. Thanks.

LE, Exabyzness

http://Smallbiztechnology.com Ramon Ray

No I’m blushing – but really THANK YOU

http://twitter.com/stanrobinson Stan Robinson, Jr.

Great reminder about keeping first things first. Small businesses need a have a foundation in place before diving into social media. As Alison mentioned, everything should revolve around a business strategy. Ideally social media should direct visitors to your website/blog (at some point) and your email newsletter provides a way for you to nurture leads over time.